About this Book

Reading Guide Questions

"Alice Munro has a strong claim to being the best fiction writer now working in North America. Runaway is a
marvel." The New York Times Book Review

The
introduction, discussion questions, suggestions for further reading,
and author biography that follow are intended to enhance your groups
conversation about Alice Munros superb new collection, Runaway. In
these eight tales, we find women of all ages and circumstances, their
lives made palpable by the subtlety and empathy of this incomparable
writer.

Reading Guide"Runaway"

Why
is Sylvia so fond of Carla? Is Sylvia right, given the circumstances,
to suggest that Carla leave her husband and give her the means to do so?

When Carla tells her parents she wants a "more authentic" life, what
does she mean by this [p. 33]? How much does Carla know about
authenticity or about life?

What is Clarks appeal for Carla? What darker suggestions does the
story make about Clarks character? It seems that Clark has wanted to
get rid of Carlas beloved pet goat: why? What resonance does Carlas
vision of the goats bones lying in a nearby field have for the
readers understanding of her future?

"Chance"

Why
does Juliet decide to pursue Eric, a man she has met briefly only once?
Is this a haphazard adventure, or does she go to Whale Bay with a
determination about what she wants? She has told Eric about her studies
in Greek and Latin, "I love all that stuff. I really do" [p. 71].
Later, she thinks of her love of the classical languages as her "treasure" [p. 83]. Why does she choose a man whose reading includes
only National Geographic and Popular Mechanics [p. 82]?

Consider the end of the story: "She can tell by his voice that he is
claiming her. She stands up, quite numb, and sees that he is older,
heavier, more impetuous than she has remembered. He advances on her and
she feels herself ransacked from top to bottom, flooded with relief,
assaulted by happiness. How astonishing this is. How close to dismay"
[p. 85]. What does this passage express about Juliets situation and
her feelings?

"Soon"

When Juliet finds the print of Chagalls I and the Village
and
buys it for her parents, she tells Christa, "It makes me think of their
life. . . . I dont know why, but it does" [p. 88]. What is the
significance of this painting as a gift and that Juliet later finds it
hidden away in their attic? What does Juliet come to understand about
her parents marriage?

Sara tells Juliet, "When it gets really bad for mewhen it gets so bad
Iyou know what I think then? I think, all right, I thinkSoon. Soon Ill see
Juliet"
[p. 124]. Why does Juliet refuse to acknowledge this statement from her
dying mother? What makes the final paragraph of the story so effective
in conveying the moments cold emotion?

"Silence"

Like
Carla in "Runaway," Juliet seems to take pride in her choice of an
unconventional life. Does Penelope punish her mother for denying her
the comfortable, conventional life she experiences with her friend
Heathers family [p. 144]? Is Juliet right or wrong to share with
Penelope, just after Erics death, tales of their arguments and his
infidelity and to describe the burning of his body on the beach [p.
149]? Is it possible that Juliet says something during this time that
is, for Penelope, unforgivable? To what extent does the story repeat
the pattern of "Soon" and Juliets rejection of her own mother?

What does Juliet not see about herself that is clear to the reader?
What aspects of her character are problematic? Is she admirable? Is she
a narcissist? Is she "lacking in motherly inhibitions and propriety and
self-control" [p. 156]? How does she handle the suffering inflicted
upon her by Penelope and the diminishment of her life as she ages?

"Passion"

When Mrs. Travers is talking about Tolstoys
Anna Karenina
with Grace, she says her sympathies shifted from Kitty, to Anna, to
Dolly, "I suppose thats just how your sympathies change as you get
older. Passion gets pushed behind the washtubs" [p. 172]. Does passion
have several meanings in this story? What does passion mean for each
character?

"The ease with which [Grace] offered herself" to Maury is "a deliberate
offering which he could not understand and which did not fit in at all
with his notions of her" [p. 173]. Later, Grace realizes it would have
been "a treachery to herself" to think of marrying Maury [p. 190]. What
changes for Grace when she spends time with Neil? What causes this
profound shift in perspective? What do she and Neil have in common?

The story opens with Graces return forty years later to find the
Traverses house on the lake, which is the site of "old confusions or
obligations" [p. 161]. Why does Munro choose not to tell us what
Graces life is like now and how the choices she made that day have
affected her?

"Trespasses"

Harry
tells Lauren about Eileens first child and the circumstances of that
childs death when she unknowingly picks up the box containing the
first childs ashes [pp. 20304]. What do we learn about his character
from the way he narrates the story and his attitude toward Lauren as he
tells her? What does he imply about Eileen? How does Laurens response
reflect her feelings toward her parents and to the life theyve chosen?

Lauren, as Delphine points out, is "a kid that is not short of information" [p. 220]. We dont learn until page 226, however, that
Lauren is only ten. Why does Munro withhold this information until
fairly late in the story?

Why do Harry and Eileen decide to make a ceremony of scattering the
first childs ashes? What is the impact of Harrys words, "This is
Lauren . . . and we say good-bye to her and commit her to the snow"
[pp. 23334]? What is the effect of the storys final paragraph about
Laurens reaction to the burrs clinging to her pajamas?

"Tricks"

This
story is based on the Shakespearean plots that involve twins, mistaken
identities, and precise symmetry. Such tricks of plot, Robin thinks,
are supposed to be a means to an end, "The pranks are forgiven, true
love or something like it is rekindled, and those who were fooled have
the good grace not to complain" [p. 268]. Why is the key to the mystery
revealed to Robin so late in the game? Why did the lovers base their
happiness on such a risky proposal? After finding out what had come
between herself and Danilo, Robin reflects, "That was another world
they had been in, surely" [p. 269]. What was this other world?

The title of this story might also be "Chance." What does Munro suggest about the power of chance in shaping a life?

"Powers"

The
story opens with Nancys diary and her first person voice. What do we
learn about Nancys character in this intimate narrative form?
According to Ollie, Nancy is "not outstanding in any way, except
perhaps in being spoiled, saucy, and egotistical"; as a girl she was "truly, naturally reckless and full of some pure conviction that she
led a charmed life" [pp. 285, 287]. Is this an accurate description of
Nancy?

Like several other stories in this collection, "Powers" takes place in
at least two time periods. It begins in 1927 and ends some time in the
early seventies. What is the effect of this dual immersion in the early
and late stages of the characters lives? How accurately does this
story project the sense of reality in its main characters voice and
her immersion in a particular time and place?

What does Nancy want or expect from marriage? Why does she marry Wilf?
Does it seem that she would prefer to marry Ollie? Why or why not? Does
Nancy warn Tessa against Ollie out of jealousy, or out of a realistic
concern that he is not to be trusted?

Does the storys ending describe a dream [pp. 33035]? A vision? Why
does it provide Nancy with a "sense of being reprieved" [p. 335]? What
does it tell us about Nancys conscience and about her lifelong
involvement with Tessa and Ollie?

For discussion of Runaway

Most
of these stories involve young women who act upon a strong desire for
sexual or romantic fulfillment or for escape from a stifling life. Is
desire liberating or confining? Do these characters really know what
they want or need? Does Munro suggest that desire is provisional and
subject to change? Do the stories imply that life is inherently
unstable and unknowable?

Writer Alan Hollinghurst has observed, "Munros stories have always
felt exceptionally capacious; they have the scope of novels, though
without any awkward sense of speeding up or boiling down. . . . Its
almost impossible to describe their unforced exactness, their unrushed economy" [The Guardian, February 5, 2005]. Which techniques does
Munro employ to accomplish this illusion of space and time in only
forty or fifty pages?

In "Soon," Juliet comes across a chatty letter she had written to Eric
the summer she visited her parents [p. 124]. In it she finds "the
preserved and disconcerting voice of some past fabricated self" [p.
125]. How does this idea of false self-representation work in various
stories? Do characters tend to misrepresent themselves mainly in
letters, or in person as well? Do they believe in these "fabricated selves" that they create for themselves and others?

Most of the stories in Runaway
involve an older woman who is looking back at a determining moment in
her youth. How do these characters view their younger selves? What are
the qualities that accompany their reminiscences about the
pastsentimentality, irony, bitterness, regret, a desire to change the
story?

Suggested Reading

Charles Baxter, Harmony of the World
Richard Ford, A Multitude of Sins
Brian Friel,
The Faith Healer
Henry James, What Maisie Knew
William Maxwell,
All the Days and Nights
John McGahern, Amongst Women
Lorrie Moore,
Like LifeFlannery OConnor, A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Carol Shields,
Unless; William Trevor, The Collected Stories
Edith Wharton,
Ethan Frome.

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Vintage.
Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.

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